East Borough, Turmeco Street.
On what is considered one of the best streets in the entire East Borough, the normal calm atmosphere was now extremely tense.
People were looking over their shoulders, looking left, right, everywhere. Fear and uncertainty shone in their eyes but the biggest emotion in those narrowed eyes was a huge depression.
Of all Backlund, no other place suffered as much from the disappearance of the Fire Mage as East Borough.
That man had become the light of this abyss, a light that people living in darkness could cling to with all their might.
He became the vengeful force that punished their oppressors and set them free. He, alone, had improved the quality of life of all the other people there.
He became the shield and the sword of all these people.
And he also gave them something impossible, unthinkable to have before.
Hope.
Hope for a better day. That things will get better. That they could live. That they could sleep on full stomachs. That they didn't have to be afraid to go out on the streets in fear of being murdered, abused, or kidnapped. That they could give their children better lives.
Hope that they could be happy!
Hope that if they were in a horrible situation, a masked man would burn away all the problems!
The people of East Borough had put so much on that man that when he disappeared. The hole he left was impossible to fill.
The gangs still didn't trust that the man had really disappeared so they still kept an almost non-existent profile. But it was only a matter of time.
Perhaps the now huge police presence could stop their return to power but even if that was the case, it would only make people more disgusted.
Disgust because they knew that these forces were not there for them but to capture the one who had been with them in their worst moments.
The gap between the people of East Borough and the rest of Backlund had become almost impossible to cross.
Ding! Ding!
Accompanied by the tinkling of a bell, a slender woman emerged from a tent.
Black hair tied in a small ponytail that went over her shoulder, pale skin somewhat sickly. Deep-set eyes and multiple scars on her face, proof of the hard life this person had lived, and wearing a simple dress with several patches and carrying a paper bag strapped to her body...
Serena Williams, one of the survivors of the Cave and now a humble worker in a bookstore had just finished her shopping for the day.
With heavy steps, she began her walk home with bloodshot eyes and an expression that showed great distress.
She released a calloused hand from the bag and taped her chest four times.
"Please Goddess... protect Mr. Kenway..." Praying softly and in a dry voice, she repeated the action she had been doing all the time for the past two days. If anyone who knew her were to see her now, they would find the scene of her praying quite curious and somewhat surprising.
Her faith in the Evernight Goddes had never been strong and that was no secret, she had simply used it as a comfort in her time in the Cave.
She would forget to attend church on Sundays along with the other believers, she never prayed and often she even felt as if she didn't believe in it at all.
She didn't know if there was a word for what she was but Serena knew she was not a believer.
But these past 2 days she had prayed more than she ever had in her entire life. Praying for the safety and well-being of her Savior.
She still didn't consider herself a believer but if kneeling and saying a few words to a figure could help her... Serena would kneel and pray for hours on end until her knees bled from the rough fabric of her dress and her neck seemed to break from holding her head, she would pray.
Even in her work, she found herself praying in the hope that however small, it might help her Savior.
Shaking her head slightly to clear her mind a bit, despite the improved security it was still a very bad idea to walk absent-mindedly, and she learned that the hard way when she got captured by the now-gone Dead Rose.
After about 15 minutes, the woman finally reached Star Street.
Looking at the old apartment building she called home, Serena let out a small sigh and walked inside.
The first thing she saw as soon as she entered was how the Tenant was staring into nothingness with a blank expression on his face.
A man in his 50s with a huge scar over his left eye and a strong face. His name was William Actus but he preferred to be called Old Will.
Despite the man's tetric appearance, Serena could tell he was a good man and extremely gentle and kind. He was a widower, having lost his wife and son long ago in a horrible factory accident.
When she was looking for a new place after losing her horrible residence in the cave. The strange policemen who helped her and the other girls had recommended this place.
The rent was extremely cheap and even with her current salary, she didn't have much trouble paying. And Old Will always tried to help them where he could.
When she was kidnapped by Dead Rose, instead of doing the usual thing of renting out her room as soon as she didn't return one day, he had waited and even notified the police...
When she returned after disappearing for 3 days he welcomed her with open arms and even bought her a small cake and forgave her the month's rent.
Old Will was easily one of the best people she had ever had the blessing of knowing.
That was why as soon as she saw him in that state she froze.
Eyes that once glowed with gentleness had turned into a vacancy that made Serena feel extremely uncomfortable and to make matters worse they were also reddened, as if he had spent the last 3 hours crying. His nose was a little dirty but because of the bad lighting, she couldn't quite see what the dirt was although it looked like dust.
This alone made her want to go outside again.
But her trust in the man made her ignore that discomfort.
'Maybe he's having a bad day...' Serena comforted herself as she took a step forward, gaining the attention of those vacant eyes.
Giving a quick salute, she kept her head down and with a quickened pace advanced towards the stairs avoiding eye contact with the man at all times.
When she was at the stair landing and was about to ascend to the next floor, her eyes moved slightly to Old Will.
The older man was looking at her with a vacant expression that the longer he looked at her the more uncomfortable it made her.
No more than 3 seconds could have passed but she immediately lowered her head and rushed up to the next floor, in her haste she almost dropped her bag with her food but managed to recover.
Running down the hallway and past the worn numbered doors, Serena reached number 13 and stuck her hand in her hair, pulling out a key she tried to fit it but in her haste, it fell to the floor.
"Shit!" cursing and extremely nervous, Serena bent down to grab the key but a horrible chill covered her body freezing her.
She could feel as if someone was watching her.
Turning her head quickly, she looked up the stairs in fear that Old Will would be there but there was no one.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Serena let out a nervous laugh as she shook her head, her skin had turned several shades paler.
Grabbing the key and unlocking the door, Serena turned the handle and was about to enter but the same chill from before returned. She couldn't help but remember her horrible days in the Cave and how this sensation was identical to the one she felt from the more... dangerous clients, but this time it was much, much greater.
Trembling, she turned around, towards door 7 behind her.
The door she could have sworn was closed before was now ajar. A pale woman's face peered out slightly and stared at her with the same vacant reddened eyes as Old Will. In the better-lit hallway, she could see how her nose was covered in pink dust, slender fingers with long fingernails gripped the door frame tightly, leaving marks on the door.
Pum!
Serena's shoulder slammed against the door and entering her room, she closed it with a bang and wasted no time in locking it. As soon as she did that a resounding Bang Bang Bang began to shake the door, as if someone was trying to force their way inside but couldn't!
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Her whole body was shaking, tears were falling from her eyes again and her breathing was extremely agitated.
'What's going on?! Is that Veronica?! And what's wrong with Old Will?!!! I've never seen them like this before!' Serena thought in terror refusing to believe that her friend and tenant could have such a terrifying expression.
Turning away from the door and not turning her back on it, Serena was extremely terrified. The bag with her food lay forgotten on the floor.
Before she could think of what to do, she felt her mind emptied and had to lean against the wall of her room to keep from falling.
"What..." Confused, she mumbled as she brought a hand to her face.
Her eyes moved outward and she felt her stomach drop.
Before she knew it, all the sound had disappeared.
BOOM!
A huge explosion sounded in the distance and Serena didn't have time to react before her window exploded.
"Ahhhh!" She fell to the ground and covered her head from the glass.
She was immediately grateful for her decision as not a second later the earth shook.
Her whole room... No. The whole building was shaking!
Serena's eyes widened in horror, her troubled mind suddenly sharpened and she did her best not to hit her head.
It felt like the earth was going to open up and swallow her!
Everything in her room began to move from side to side, the single bed crashing against the wall with force. The closet in the corner fell to the floor and crawled with speed to the other side.
Dust was falling from the ceiling and the creaking of wood could be heard everywhere.
It seemed like the building would fall on her at any moment!
Hugging her head and staying in a corner in a fetal position, Serena, not knowing what to do, stood still and waited for it all to be over.
But as more time passed, the earth shook even more, and the fear that the building would fall on her was now greater!
'I have to get out of here!!!' Terrified, Serena staggered towards the door of her room but halfway there she stopped.
Not only had she locked the door but Veronica was still outside!
Serena knew that opening the door in this situation was almost or even more dangerous than staying here so turning around in anguish and terror, she looked for another way to escape.
Her eyes immediately found the window.
Doubt filled the woman's mind, after all, this was the second floor. A fall could break something and she didn't have enough money for a visit to the doctor-
Criiiiiiiiiick! Crack!
Any doubts she had left her mind as she heard the creak of wood and a huge crack appeared in the wall next to her and also heard how a part of the door broke.
Moving as fast as she could and doing her best not to fall as it would mean death, Serena barely dodged her bed and grabbed the window frame.
Grabbing it, she opened it as wide as she could and jumped out. She felt something try to grab her heel but failed and could only scratch her.
With a loud Thut! Her body hit the ground and all the air left her lungs.
Tears fell from her eyes from the pain but forcing herself to stand up and even with the earthquake getting stronger, she moved in search of a safe place.
But she barely took a few steps when she froze again.
Deep in East Borough a huge plume of smoke was rising to the sky, surely the place where the explosion came from earlier.
All was absolute chaos, horses freed from their carriages running and trampling people, the same carriages lying across the street blocking it. Same streets that had huge cracks growing in them and she could swear that something was moving in those.
She could see how a person had been crushed by one of the carriages, by his clothes it might have been the driver.
But that wasn't the worst of it, down the sidewalks and alleys, she could see how people were lying on the ground and frothing with foam coming out of their mouths. Their bodies twisting in horrible ways and Serena was sure that if it wasn't for everything that was going on she could hear those people's bones snapping relentlessly.
The people who were not on the ground watched frozen as the skin of all of them peeled back showing red muscle that grew in size, their fingers elongated supernaturally and their fingernails grew into blades. Black veins moved where the skin had not yet fallen and where it had already fallen a thick black liquid like pus gushed out.
Crriiicccckkkkk Pum!
At the loud sound, Serena turned around and looked with pain as the building where she lived had collapsed, a huge cloud of dust spread through the chaotic street and she instinctively closed her eyes to prevent it from entering them. Her building was not the only one as several others also collapsed, surely killing the people still inside.
Serena looked around her and despite the thick fog of dust that was surely covering her, what little she could see she could see clearly...
And that was death.
Her mind didn't even have time to process even a sliver of what was happening before the whole world seemed to freeze. Every sound, action, thought, sensation, and emotion was killed and even the people and animals running in terror through the streets froze in place.
From one second to the next, similar or worse to the previous event, the whole world seemed to go dark.
Everyone who could still move looked up.
Defying all rule and natural order, at 12:00 p.m. and hanging in a clear black sky that a moment ago was covered in yellowish clouds, hung the huge crimson moon that shone with bloody light.
A Blood Moon!
But despite this supernatural event, what most terrified Serena and all who witnessed this event was how in the distance and piercing through the dust that seemed to cover all of East Borough, something was rising rapidly.
Rising into the sky as if it wished to pierce it like a spear, it pierced through the smoke and destruction that its ascension was causing... A huge redwood tree grew, illuminated by the bloody light of the moon, enveloping it like a mother cuddles her baby after delivery. Its branches stretched out into the void in search of their mother, but failing to find her they could only writhe in frustration like the legs of a spider.
The tree exceeded a dark bloody glow. A sinful glow, yet holy at the same time, a perverse and dark holiness, an attack on the divine and sacred.
Depravity taking physical form!
At that moment the earth stopped trembling, as the top of the tree reached its peak.
Illuminated by the bloody moon and with its back to the blasphemous tree. The people on the ground began to rise. Gray dust covered their bodies, but this only served to emphasize the horrible transformation they had undergone.
Those who were once normal people had become demons. Men, women, children, homeless, workers, it no longer mattered.
Bleeding red muscle stained the remnants of clothes that were torn due to the rapid swelling of the body and sticking even more dust. Elongated hands ending in sharp claws of white bone. Eyes completely black and foam falling from mouths full of sharp black teeth.
Nobody moved, all the people were completely frozen in front of the image that seemed to be taken directly from their worst nightmares...
Unfortunately for them, the monsters did not share the feeling.
Growls of bloodthirsty beasts came from these and Serena finally felt herself gaining control of her body again.
Turning around and making herself as small as she could to take advantage of the fog of dust that still covered the street, Serena ran as fast as she could at the same time as screams and sounds of flesh being cut sounded.
She barely made it a few steps before something slammed into her back knocking her to the messy ground, her head hit first and the world went blurry and for a few seconds, everything went black.
But it was only an instant, as soon as the rest of her body hit the ground the world gained that horrible crimson color again.
"H-help me..."
Looking over her shoulder at what had hit her, Serena saw in a daze the bloody face of a young woman with blood pouring from her mouth in great quantities and extremely pale, her once bright eyes now looked dull and lost.
Before the panic could continue, her eyes moved down to the body of the woman who was wearing a simple dress, which because of the dust that covered her it was impossible to tell the color, and continued down until she stopped at the distinct lack of legs. Viscera hung like a tail and covered her legs with warm crimson.
She could see how a few paces away was the creature that had done that, if the legs in its claws were any indication of it, those abyss of eyes looked to where the rest of its prey had fallen.
Every muscle in Serena's body froze, she even stopped breathing and quickly closed her eyes playing dead.
'Please don't let it see me! Please don't let it see me!'
She couldn't see anything due to her eyes being closed but she could still hear and feel. Serena could hear the way those things tore people apart, the way various things fell to the ground with dry, wet thuds. The last breaths of life of the people as they died just a few feet away from them, she could feel how more warm liquid covered her waist making her want to vomit...
But what she could feel most of all was the horrible look of that thing on her.
Any hope that her performance had worked died and she immediately tried desperately to get the woman's body off of her.
Years of malnutrition, sickness, and abuse of all kinds came to the surface making her unable to do that, even if the woman on top of her was in a similar or worse state than her own, Serena didn't have the strength to get the woman off of her.
She could only watch helplessly as that monster tossed aside the rest of the woman's body It let out a horrible shriek and lunged at her.